For Tairah Payne of Glen Burnie, the only cheerleader at the meeting, the Student-Athlete Advisory Council was about expanding her knowledge of sports beyond her own.

“I want to get more perspective from every sport. I only know from two sports,” said Payne, who plays softball in the spring. “Understand what they struggle with, what they need.”

Advertisement

In its third year, the SAAC invites two athletes from each school in Anne Arundel County to talk about experiences in their own athletic departments in a democratic attempt to better athletics countywide.

The first meeting, unlike previous years at the Severna Park Community Center, was held under the towering bleachers of Northeast High, the first of several schools to be shown off this fall. Coordinator of Athletics for Anne Arundel County Public Schools Clayton Culp wanted to give the students a new perspective, what other athletic departments had to work with.

“I always love to come to Northeast — not only are the facilities nice, but you can see how the sports are connected,” Severna Park’s Rachel Spilker said.

The reps from Southern and Old Mill, most of the pairs arrived in plain clothes. South River’s Jamison Gaskins went a step farther than his student-athlete colleagues on Friday morning, showing up in his Seahawks football jersey. He had a game in a few hours.

All wore stickers identifying their name, school and sports they played. The stickers, and what was on them, ended up sparking the hottest topic of the afternoon — who played more than one sport, and who was encouraged?

Annapolis running back Deon Hunt said that Panther football’s summer workouts are open to all, inviting other coaches recruit members of the gridiron to their sports. Jake Marcus, a football and baseball player for Old Mill, added coach Chad McCormick gives him leave every other Thursday to go to band practice, which is also the Patriots’ walk-through day.

It was Arundel, though, that colored some of the other students Wildcat-green with envy. Per volleyball player Mackenzie Meehan, there’s a physical incentive for Wildcats who play three sports — the “Triple A Club.” It comes with a T-shirt.

Thirty-nine new members of the club walked around campus last year, including Nikki Seven, who lettered in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse as a freshman. Team managers are also eligible.

“Right now, they just really like the shirts. I’m hoping it becomes a thing that it’s special to be part of the Triple A Club,” Arundel athletic director Kevin Necessary said. “Year in and year out, it gets harder to convince kids not to specialize. To be honest, that’s why I wanted to start it.”

But Arundel wasn’t the only one with something to show for playing in fall, winter and spring; Necessary gives all credit to David Klingel, the South River athletic director. After two years of T-shirts, the Seahawks offered Under Armour backpacks to their three-sport athletes.

South River awarded 100 backpacks last year, Klingel said. Approximately 60 were to those running cross country, indoor track and/or outdoor track.

“We are trying to get more athletes to try a variety of sports all the time,” Klingel said in an email. “With the emphasis on year round in one sport and club sports, this is becoming more and more difficult.”

Along with Severna Park, Spilker is a member of the Maryland United Lacrosse Club — but that hasn’t stopped her from playing soccer and basketball for the Falcons, too.

Advertisement

“Playing three sports has definitely made me a better athlete and a better student,” she said.

Culp said it’s a “fine line” that coaches walk on, trying to balance kids’ diversity in sports with getting a player really good at their sport, whatever that takes.

“In my job and in my interactions, I’ve heard many times ‘I got sick of the sport. I played it three seasons a year from the age of 5 to 12 and I never want to play it again,’” Culp said. “That message is out there too, and I’ve heard it enough, and it really concerns me.”

Meade’s reps, Sam Chambers and Nina Huff, were in agreement — this was something the Mustangs desperately needed.

Though not all of that falls on the coaches, Culp said — parents are often the root of a player’s over-attention to one sport, or club and AAU coaches — coaches can still be advocates.

“The message is we want well-rounded student athletes participating in multiple sports or activities,” he said. “I hope we’ve gotten past the point where any coach is saying, ‘You must do this club, or whatever, if you want to play for me.’ That message should never be out there.”

Senior Kayla Poole’s situation lands somewhere in between. Chesapeake Science Point’s volleyball team is only a fledgling, in its second year, and has grown, fielding a junior varsity team this fall. But like any team at the school of under 500 students, it’s fragile.

“They try to get more people to come to the team so that the team doesn’t die out,” she said. “So some people feel that they have a duty to the team, so that makes them feel like I can’t go to this team, or, ‘this team is taking away players from our team.’ ”

Through the conversations, the players found they had more in common than they’d previously believed, and maybe even a common goal.

“People haven’t been afraid to share what’s on their minds regarding school sports … I think it’s an opportunity to see there’s similar things in other schools,” Spilker said.

WHO’S STILL ON THE BUS?: Only three football teams in all of Anne Arundel County football can still call themselves perfect.

Advertisement

At least one won’t be able to say that by the end of Friday night.

Broadneck is 4-0 after bringing down Arundel 61-49 in an arduous three-and-½ hour marathon last Friday. Up the coast, a decisive win by Northeast over Cape Henlopen (Del.) left the Eagles with four wins and zero losses as well — their best start since 2001.

As fate would have it, the Bruins will journey to Pasadena this Friday night to see if they can’t put up similar high-scoring efforts to stay unbeaten. The Eagles have, once, a 61-40 win over Northeast in Week Three.

Chesapeake, the other unbeaten team in the county, will host Lansdowne on Friday.

ATTITUDE FOR GRATITUDE: The coaching staff of Annapolis football will show their support for Coach to Cure, the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, by wearing patches on Friday.

It’s the seventh-straight year the Panthers have partnered with Coach to Cure, thanks to head coach Nick Good-Malloy, who first learned about it while coaching at Salisbury a decade ago.

Though Annapolis will be away at Meade this Friday, negating the ability to host a fundraiser, Good-Malloy hopes the patches will inspire his own players.

“All of our student-athletes, like all people, have different challenges. Sometimes they get wrapped up in them, which is reasonable,” he said. “But sometimes it’s good to step back and be grateful for what you have.

“[Duchenne] takes a young person’s ability to run and walk that our football players take for granted.”

To learn more about the fight against Duchenne, visit parentprojectmd.org. To donate $10, text “CURE” to 50555.

IN SEARCH OF A VOICE: Southern boys’ soccer is looking for an announcer for their home games. Applicants must be willing to work Oct. 2 at 4 p.m., Oct. 4 and 11 at 6 p.m., Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. and Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Free admission, dinner and “appreciation” are on the table. Those interested should contact coach Brett Blacker at coachbsblacker@gmail.com.